By CONNIE NOLEN / Community Columnist

“So what time today do you think Scholastic Art and Writing Awards will be posted?”  Junior Destiny Reid asked.

“The website says 5 Eastern so 4 our time,” I respond. Students began reminding me that this was Scholastic’s winners’ week on Monday. They’re excited—and invested.

Beyond awards, Scholastic offers summer opportunities for top winners. Scholastic Awards alums include Stephen King, Zac Posen and Joyce Carol Oates. The end of Scholastic’s competition offers a new beginning for winning students—as they recognize that they really do possess talents worth sharpening.

When school started last fall, my posters picturing last year’s Art and Writing winners served their purpose. PHS boasted a record number of entries and almost twice the number of winners in 2017. This year’s Scholastic Art and Writing Award Winners include Claudia McGill who won a Silver Key and an Honorable Mention for her Photography and an Honorable Mention for her Mixed Media Project. Savannah Mercer won Honorable Mention for her Senior Art Portfolio. Madison Averhart and Faith Nolen won Gold Keys for their poetry. Katherine Owens won a Silver Key for her Senior Writing Portfolio and an Honorable Mention for her individual Poetry Submission. Destiny Reid won Honorable Mention for her two individual poetry submissions.  Finally, Chelsea Johnson won a Silver Key for her poetry.

“To be recognized as a Scholastic Art and Writing Award recipient is humbling,” said Kat Owens. “Without writing, I don’t know who I’d be. Through writing, I’ve learned to find myself.”

Owens has worked hard in PHS writing classes throughout high school producing her award-winning senior portfolio.

“Being a winner as a junior is motivation to enter again next year,” said Reid.

“My greatest accomplishments came from an illuminated classroom in a school on a hill,” Reid wrote in a recent poem.

The intellectual fire of these committed PHS students brightens our classrooms fostering an inspirational creative community where students thrive.

Join us at Pelham High School on Thursday, March 16 from 7-9 p.m. and experience the brilliance of PHS students on stage at Write Night 2017.